Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taking advantage of digital marketing. In fact, social media and other types of digital marketing have not only leveled the playing field, but they’ve also helped smaller businesses grow faster than their larger rivals.
The digital marketing world has no dearth of opportunities for small businesses of all sorts and sizes. With the advent of social media, search engine optimization, and other channels, businesses get the chance to connect with more customers and thus, increase the chances of sales.
Brands that embrace digital marketing as an opportunity to grow their business reap the benefits of increased traffic, greater customer loyalty, and more profitable sales. Digital channels are certainly a boon for businesses that know how to use them well.
Let’s talk about how digital marketing can be used to help businesses grow through all stages of the business life cycle.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the process of using digital platforms to promote your business. Digital marketing has become a key part of modern-day marketing, and it can be used to reach millions of people around the world.
Digital marketing for businesses is a cost-effective way of reaching potential clients and bringing them into your store. Think about it like this – if you were to buy yourself an advertisement say in a newspaper or on the radio (which you probably did 15 or 20 years ago), there’s a high chance that only less than 15% of recipients will actually spend any time focusing on what you’re trying to get them to notice.
(That’s just the nature of mass media!)
And when we talk about digital marketing, this is exactly the same logic, but with a couple of key differences– you can fine-tune your targeting so that you have a higher market penetration rate. And you have better information on how your target market engages with you and your campaign.
Digital media platforms help you reach millions of people who then may go on to buy what you’re offering, helping your business grow as time goes by. Some common digital channels might include:
- your website
- search engines
- social media
- online video
- and paid ads
Your customer will likely intersect many other more traditional channels in their day-to-day (such as outdoor billboards, word-of-mouth, direct mail, or leaflets and brochures). Just remember that marketing is about finding the right message, to share with the right person, at just the right time, through the right channel.
And digital marketing is just one of those channels.
What Makes Digital Marketing so Powerful?
Digital marketing is a mix of art and science. The realm of digital marketing is one that allows us to get very scientific in our efforts to learn about this subject so as to provide our audience with the best possible content we can offer.
We like to take a lot of time to think through what we’re going to do, test our ideas and the data collected over time helps us adjust our course, just as it might in any other branch of science.
We keep trying until we find a hypothesis worth sticking with but oftentimes, failure will be part of the journey too. It’s all those data points that make digital marketing so incredibly powerful; every action taken on the web is tracked, so plenty of information can be collected and it needs to be analyzed carefully – they pave the way for some pretty powerful insights into people’s behavior.
What Are the Different Types of Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a broad term that covers a wide array of marketing practices and techniques, and it’s hard to know where to start because of the sheer volume of tactics. Let’s first define digital marketing.
We can break digital marketing down into two main categories: online and offline.
- Online digital marketing includes everything you do online: your website, social media activity, and everything else in between.
- Offline digital marketing includes everything you do beyond a computer or mobile screen: display ads, advertising on digital radio or satellite TV, mobile apps, integrated content into digital media, getting influencers involved, and more.
Which Digital Marketing Techniques Do We Need for Growth?
Digital marketing is a game of numbers and statistics: just like sales. It’s all about the numbers.
The larger the volume you can bring in– whether it’s impressions, engagements, downloads, signups, page views, etc., the more you have available to nurture and convert into actual business for your brand.
You could use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to get more followers and increase the traffic to your website. You could also use digital marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO) to help improve your website’s search rankings. If you want to get more leads, then you could use paid advertising to bring more visitors to your website — including those who might be interested in your business.
We’re going to take a look at some of the most popular digital marketing techniques for business growth.
Social Media Marketing
In the digital age, social media has become an essential marketing tool. If your business is not on social media, you are already behind the competition. There’s no doubt about it. Social media marketing is one of the most popular digital marketing techniques for business growth. It’s an excellent way to connect with your customers and potential customers. Social media marketing should be a part of your overall digital marketing strategy.
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, have millions of users and you can use them to promote your business, products, and services. Social media is not just a place to have quick and shallow conversations with consumers, it is a place to build relationships and trust.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel for all businesses looking to reach a new audience or reconnect with their existing customers. With the right strategy, it can be an effective way to reach your target market, drive sales, and grow your business.
Cost-effective and scalable, email marketing is all about sending emails to other people with the sole purpose of getting them to do something. This can be as simple as clicking a link, or as complex as purchasing a product. It’s a very versatile marketing technique, with lots of options for growth.
If you are looking to increase your sales, there is a chance that email marketing could be the answer.
Your Business Website
An online presence is a must-have for any kind of business in the 21st century. Even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you need some kind of website to attract new clients and build your reputation.
In fact, a business without a website is considered outdated, because it doesn’t provide its users with important information about the company. For example, a simple one-page website with information about your company and contact information can go a long way for your business.
Search Engine Optimization
If you’re starting a business online, you’ll need to promote it. A typical way of doing that is through search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is a strategy that will help you to improve the visibility of your website in search engines. It is becoming increasingly popular among small businesses, as it is one of the cheapest, yet most effective ways of getting new customers.
As a way of marketing your business or website online, search engine optimization (SEO) has been around for a long time. Many people believe that SEO is something that you have to pay a company to do. And while it is true that many companies offer SEO as a service, anyone can learn SEO by using the power of Google, YouTube, and other online resources.
PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most useful and effective digital marketing techniques. With it, you can boost your website’s traffic, sales, and leads. PPC advertising is also one of the most affordable and convenient ways to advertise online.
If you’re looking to take your business’ online presence to the next level, this is the right place for you.
Other Digital Marketing Techniques Worth Mentioning
When it comes to digital marketing and online visibility, there are many other techniques that can be used to promote your business.
Video Marketing
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth at least a million. This is why video marketing is becoming one of the most popular ways for businesses, big and small, to reach the masses.
Even though video marketing isn’t exactly new (in fact, the first video was recorded over 130 years ago), it isn’t something that most businesses are using to its fullest advantage. In fact, a lot of businesses shy away from video marketing because they don’t think it’s “their thing,” and this is a huge mistake.
Video marketing isn’t something that every business can do, but it is something that every business should do.
Content Marketing
Another very effective digital marketing technique is the use of content marketing to attract interested prospects to your business.
Content marketing is a digital marketing technique that involves publishing and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract and acquire new customers and encourage them to come back. Content covers a lot of formats– both digital and otherwise. RSS feeds, brochures, newsletters, podcasts, reports, ebooks, catalogs, and so much more.
The idea is to create and distribute content that is valuable and relevant to a target audience and to promote it across various channels, ensuring that it reaches the intended audience. Content marketing can be used to attract prospects, nurture leads, and build relationships.
If you are a small business, you may be able to do this using your own resources. If you are a bigger business, you should outsource this activity to a digital marketing agency.
Chatbots
In the last few years, chatbots have come onto the digital marketing scene with a bang. They are one of the hottest topics in digital marketing right now. They are similar to virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa, except that they’re designed to help you directly through your computer or mobile device.
They’re pretty simple to build if you know what you’re doing. This is a great way to have a more direct connection with your customers, and an even better way to provide them with more value.
For example, one of the most popular chatbots is the one that allows customers to order pizza from Domino’s. People can order pizza from the company’s website, from Facebook, or from Twitter. They can ask questions about the menu or even place an order for pickup.
Chatbots can be very useful for businesses of all kinds. They can be customized to suit your purposes and can be used to answer specific questions that your customers might have or to help them complete a specific task.
Virtual Events
One of the most underrated digital marketing techniques is virtual events. Virtual events are an excellent way to reach a large audience and generate leads while also saving costs.
Webinars, online workshops, online networking events, online trade fairs all fall within the purview of virtual events. These events can be hosted on platforms such as Facebook or YouTube and will give you a chance to interact with your audience in an informal way. Participation at these events is usually great and getting the word out is a lot easier compared to conventional events.
Virtual events are a good way to reach customers and prospects who are not able to make it to your physical location. It is not just the out-of-towners who are busy and find it difficult to spare time for attending a live event. There are plenty of people who live close by and might not be able to make it to your physical location but would love to attend an event even if it is happening virtually.
How Do I Manage My Digital Marketing Mix?
There are many digital marketing techniques for business growth. The tricky part is figuring out what works for your business.
Managing your business’ digital marketing mix requires a bit of high-level knowledge about what you and your brand needs: your goals, what you want to achieve, and what you have on hand to get things going. It will require a lot of strategizing and prioritizing.
(Because the reality is– you just can’t do it all.)
Remember: you don’t need to do all the digital marketing techniques we’ve mentioned so far. Depending on your target audience, your available resources (in terms of time, funding, and manpower), your marketing objectives, and your key strengths, some methods will certainly be better than others.
And this is exactly what your digital marketing mix is all about– a tailor-fit set of digital marketing techniques and activities customized to what you might need at the moment as a business.
Who Should Manage My Digital Marketing Campaign?
Whether you’re a business owner who wants to grow your business through digital marketing or a professional looking to get hired, the best people to manage a digital marketing campaign are the ones who know the most about your industry.
Hiring a digital marketing firm is a great way to get a professional digital marketing campaign off the ground. But if you’re a business owner, you should really be the one in charge of digital marketing. Why? Because you know your industry best. You know your business and how to promote it, and you know your customers and how to reach them.
You might be thinking that hiring an agency or freelance digital marketing consultant is the best way to go. After all, agencies and consultants know a lot about digital marketing, right? That’s what you think. But in reality, an agency might know about digital marketing but have little expertise about your specific industry or the specific needs of your business. And a consultant might know your industry but have little expertise in digital marketing.
What Should We Do to Hire the Right Digital Marketing Team?
New businesses do not have the time or resources to hire the right team to drive growth. It takes time, effort, and money to hire the right team.
In today’s digital age, everybody wants to get their hands on the latest tools, techniques, and strategies that will help them achieve their goals and grow their business. However, the digital marketing industry is extremely crowded and it’s hard to separate the good from the bad.
But how do you get it right? Check out these five things to ensure that you hire the right digital marketing team:
1. Make sure each member of the team is an expert in their field. If a team member is not an expert, do not hire them.
2. While you are hiring, take the time to orient and train the team. Give them basic knowledge about your business, products or services, and target audience.
3. The team should have a good reputation in the industry.
4. The team should be able to work well with others.
5. The team should have varied skills– at least enough to cover what you need at the moment.
There are thousands of digital marketing agencies and consultants who are ready to take your business to the next level and will do anything to get a slice of your pie.
A Final Word About Digital Marketing and Growth
Not only a business requirement but also an opportunity to promote your brand in a cost-effective way, digital marketing is crucial for modern businesses looking to grow their customer base and make more money.
When you don’t have a good marketing plan in place, it is nearly impossible to enjoy success. The digital marketing mix is a combination of various digital marketing channels that are used to promote a brand. It includes social media, SEO, PPC, email marketing, content marketing, etc. The benefits of digital marketing are plenty and the methods are easier than ever. However, with so many options available, it can be confusing to know what to use and when.
It takes hard work and the right digital marketing plan to really make a long-term difference to your business. While digital marketing has certainly made our lives easier, it is also important to know where to focus your efforts. If you would like to learn more about digital marketing, give Team LOJO a call today! We can help your business grow with the best digital marketing services in the industry.
